Princesses and Squires
by Gelasia
Summary: Pebbles at thrown at the window, sneaking away from school for a midnight rendevous, a romantic setting, soul bearing conversations? It sounds like waff! Brandon and Stella one shot. Because there's more to a girl than her title.


_Authors notes: Had a major urge to take a break from all the other stories I've been working on and write for a fandom I've never touched before! I believe that there is more to Stella than the superficial flighty princess on the show and I think Brandon knows this. I was dying to write something to bring Brandon and Stella closer together as a couple. They are so cute._

_Warning: Only as I proofread it did I realize how incredibly mushy this was. None the less.. enjoy? _

Stella was a light sleeper. This however did not mean she enjoyed getting out of bed. She may have been a light sleeper, but she was definitely a fan of dozing.

So, the first pebble that hit the window was what woke her up, but it was the infinite number of pebbles that followed periodically after the first that finally pulled her away from her warm nest of blankets and pillows.

She was more zombie than human as she walked out onto her balcony to investigate the noise. At least until she was blasted by the chilly night wind, and simultaneously pelted by a rock.

"Ow!" 

"Princess?" a hushed voice called cautiously from the ground level.

"Brandon!" she nearly shrieked, rushing over to the edge of the balcony. Sure enough, there he was, tossing a pebble in one hand, staring up at her. He shushed her, looking around to make sure her shriek hadn't roused any one who might get him in trouble.

"Morning Princess," he murmured with a lazy smile, once he was sure he was all clear. She learned farther over the railing, trying hard not to grin. She needed to keep up a facade of horrified annoyance, despite being thrilled at such a romantic albeit painful awakening.

"What are you doing here at four in the morning?" she hissed.

"Come down and I'll tell you," he replied, dropping the stone. Her blood raced with the thrill of this highly romantic, somewhat scandalous and all out delicious adventure. She allowed her grin to break out on her face as she hoisted a leg over the edge of the balcony. Most definitely not a very lady like thing to do, and obviously she had been hanging out with Musa for far too long because she took great pleasure in his shocked expression.

"You'll have to catch me!" she told him as she hopped up fully onto the railing before jumping off. It was with a muffled curse and a slight 'oof' that her squire in shining.. pajamas caught her. She bit her lip to keep from laughing in delight at his annoyed expression. 

"You're crazy," he told her with exasperated affection, "what would you have done if I hadn't caught you?" he demanded.

"Flown of course," she replied lightly, "so tell me what you're doing here?" she asked as he set her down on her feet. He ignored the question, instead taking the time to eye the huge pink fluffy bunny slippers she was wearing. They only seemed to add to the charming image she made - hair pulled back in a loose braid, and a long flowy gauzy robe. He'd bet the night gown under it was something equally impractical, but oh so delectable - something slinky and cute. He shook his head, before offering her his hand, which she instantly took.

"Come on, it's a bit of a ways..."

"What is?" she demanded as he began to drag her away from Althea.

"It's a surprise," he said with a wink. She scowled at him.

"Tell me?" he laughed at her pout.

"Now Princess, if I did that, it'd ruin the surprise. She playfully hit him on the shoulder, but did give up on trying to weasel out information. A bit of a walk past the campus, a levabike came into view. He only relinquished the gentle grip on her hand to start it up.

"Hop on." She raised an eyebrow but shrugged. Something about tonight had made her a little wild, and the small amount of inhibitions she had were killed. She didn't even seem to care one bit that her couture slippers were being completely ruined by the trek in the dirt towards the swamp. She hiked up her skirts and swung a leg over the back of the bike, tentatively holding onto Brandon's waist after he handed her a helmet to put on. He kicked the bike into gear and they were off.

"Wake up Princess, we're here," he murmured, shifting slightly. Her eyes flew open and she gasped in surprise. The roar of the engine had died down, but it had been drowned out by a roar of another kind.

"The falls of light?" she asked as she got off the bike. She even forgot to complain about the fact that the ride had completely ruined her hair. 

Named due to the magical fish that inhabited the river, the falls of light was the tallest waterfall in the dimension and also one of the most beautiful falls in the universe. The fish gave off different colors of light from their scales, a bit like fireflies, and it didn't seem to matter which direction the water was flowing - there were quite a few fish swimming up the falls. Greenery climbed up the cliff sides surrounding the falls, only interrupted by smatterings of vibrant flowers. Brandon had taken them to a high rock outcropping halfway up the falls, facing East. The sun had yet to rise, but there was a pink glow signifying the dawn was coming. 

Stella walked over to the edge of the outcropping, a hand covering her mouth, her eyes shining. It was too bad that Brandon could not see her face, and was growing more and more nervous when she didn't say anything. In fact, he was beginning to feel just a bit stupid. Everyone knew Stella was more of a city girl than anything, and hated nearly everything that had to do with nature. He took in her ruined slippers, wild hair, and the dust covering her white gauzy robe and frowned. He might think she looked just fine, but she'd probably have a royal hissy fit if she knew there was even a hair out of place. For gods sake, she was a princess! He turned to scowl at the bike.

"Brandon?" she finally managed to whisper, turning around only to see him glaring down at the bike. She blinked in confusion.

"It occurred to me you are the princess of Solaria, you practically are a sunrise. Why would you want to see one here?" he grumbled, "this was stupid. I'll take you home.." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Honestly, boys are so dense sometimes," she murmured to herself as she walked over. She clasped one of his hands in hers and pressed it against her cheek.

"Come watch the sunrise with me Brandon," she whispered, pulling him to the edge of the rock and facing the dawn. She slipped his arm around her shoulders even as the first rays of the sun began to appear over the horizon, changing all of the cloud colors to brilliant pinks and oranges, outlined in gold. She snuggled next to him, smiling to herself when she felt the tenseness leave his muscles.

"You know... when a prince would date me, he'd try to show off how fashionable he was, and how much money he had. His poise and elegance.. and most princes are more shallow and self-centered than I am," she heard him chuckle, and thought she heard a 'that's hard to do,' and elbowed him in the stomach.

"It wasn't fun. Don't get me wrong, I like the nice restaurants and the trips to exotic places with five star service. But they took me to these places to show me off, not because the place meant anything to them. They treated me like an accessory. You treat me like a girl," she finally turned up to look at him as the sun peeped up from behind the hills. "You treat me like just a girl," she repeated, "like I'm special, not because of what I am, but who I am. I'm not Princess of Solaria, I'm just Stella, and that means more than any stupid expensive restaurant." She smiled,  
"and I may be a well traveled princess, but this is the most beautiful place I've ever been to." He smiled down at her.

"So much for you being the materialistic one of the group," he teased, "obviously you aren't an easy conquest."

"Yeah well, tell anyone and I'll have you beheaded," she returned lightly.

"I'm far too good looking to behead," he replied as he slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. 

"I suppose I have to agree there. But now that you've opened up my eyes to the joys of dating squires, I should keep my options open," she said with a giggle as her hands trailed up his chest to wrap around his neck.

"They couldn't handle you," he murmured low in his throat. She raised an eyebrow at that.

"And you can?" she retorted in disbelief. He grinned.

"Watch me," he growled as he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. It was more tender than passionate, more sweet than seductive. A mere brushing of the lips, their breaths mingling in the early morning. One of his hands came up to caress her cheek as he settled into a deeper kiss, not relenting until he felt her lean fully against him. Only then did he pull away, taking no small amount of pride in her flushed cheeks and dreamy expression.

"I won't always be a squire," he murmured softly. She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"I won't always be a princess. Eventually I'll be Queen." He mock shuddered.

"That'll be a scary day," he teased and she hit him upside the head. He started to laugh as he pulled away and led the way back to the levibike.

"Come on, I better get you home," he murmured. She nodded, following him. When she got on behind him, he took one of her hands, and kissed the palm before sliding it around his waist, to press against his stomach. Her grin turned tender when he did the same with her other hand, bringing her to press up against him. She laid her head against his back, and it was in no time at all before she was sound asleep. Brandon slowed down a bit, arguing that it was because he didn't want to wake the sleeping girl, and his slowing down had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to prolong their time together.

"Stella.. We're here," he whispered, shifting slightly. Her eyes snapped open even as she mumbled a protest, trying to snuggle deeper against him. He chuckled, unhooking her arms and helping her off the bike. She leaned against him with a yawn..

"I can't walk you back in," he whispered, looking disappointed. She nodded in understanding.

"Could you imagine the look on Miss G's face if we walked in looking like this?" she asked gesturing to her dirt encrusted slippers, dirty robe, mussed hair and smudged cheeks. He let out a bark of laughter as he leaned against the bike. 

"She'd die, and then she'd kill us," he informed her, trying to keep a straight face. Her own expression turned serious for a moment.

"Thank you for this morning Brandon," she said her eyes turning soft and wistful as she turned to walk back towards school.

"Stella," she stopped to look back at him. Her eyes widened as he yanked her towards him, hand going around her head as he gave her one last fierce kiss.

"For the road," he told her with a roguish wink. She leaned in and kissed him again.

"It's a long journey," she explained, not fully being able to hide her small giggle at his dumbstruck expression. She sauntered off towards school, only turning to blow him a kiss before disappearing behind school walls. He caught it before starting up his bike and beginning the drive back to his own school. He was glad he had decided to take her to the falls of light... No, she most definitely wasn't the materialistic shallow selfish princess everyone seemed to think she was. She was Stella, and she was his.

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_Review Please!_


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